Daily Republican., 1887-08-25
AN INTERFERING TALK.

A few days ago Mr.. Cha res Will.
liams, whom the New York World
describes as "the noted English cor
respondent" had an interview of
some length with Secretary Bayard, Of
which Mr.. Williams has given the
chief points to the World because they
appear to him "to be of interest to the
public on both sides of the Atlantic"
The conversation is said to have taken
wide range, ard includes the present
state of Bulgarian and French affairs,
of which Mr.. Williams gave his expe-
riences. His opinion was that II the
Bulgarians, defeated in having a ruler
of their choice, proclaimed republic,
as they had threatened to do, it would
not be tolerated by the surrounding
powers, nor did he himself consider
that the people are as yet fitted by
education or experience to maintain u
local administration. Here, says Mr..
Williams, Mr., Baycrd "hurst into a
most eloquent eulogy OF The local self
government which is the foundation
OF all true liberty, and which was
originally conceived in the brain of the
English Alfred" The conversation
next driftcd to the French republic, in
which Mr.. Williams had found no
true municipal or local life, "all power
being centralized in Paris as thorough
ly as under the empire, the projects
governing the provinces being merely
the appointees and creatures of the
central government.
But the most interesting points of
the conversation turned or civil SER
vice reform and our fishery troubles
with Canada. Upon both these sub
iects Mr.. Bayard, who has always
been averse to appearing in print,
spoke with greater freedom than is
usual with him. He admitted that q
bureaucracy such as exists in england
was altogether undesirable, but said
'he had no doubt that medium
course could be found between a sys.
TEN of bureaucratic administration and
one in which the clerks in an Office
were liable to be changed every four
years" Then he entered into the
general question and spoke strongly of
the system which had prevailed in the
civil service of the United States until
the present government had succeeded
to power, pointing out its manifold
evils and its tendency to promote po-
litlcal corruption, which had, in fact,
been its outcome. He said the gov
eminent would not have thought it
worth while to come into power un-
less it had determined to make an end
of such system, and that it had done
and continued to do, though, as Rome
was not built In day, it was not pos
sible in few months to completely
extlrpate evils which had been grow
ing for quarter of century or more.
In this connection he went on to speak
OF the recent utterances of Mr.. George
w. Curtis, whom he eulogized as "a
man OF high character, standing and
|attainments," but "who had taken
up this subject as if there were no
other requiring the attention of the
responsible executive of the country"
Mr.. Bayard added "that he had no
desire to see anything he said on this
subject in the papers, for that such a
course was not in accordance with his
feelings or his principles, but that if
Mr.. Curtis were to examine the records
of the State Department he would find
that removals had only been made for
cause" 1t was true that not few
removals of officers in his department
had been made, ''some for habitual in
toxication, others for other sufficient
non-political reasons, but wherever he
found men doing their duty at home
or abroad he had kept them in office,
and such," he added, "was the policy
and the practice of the present govern
government, and would continue to be
80. But the power of removal re.
mained, and would be exercised when
lever the interest of the country re-
quired it." On the fisheries question
Mr.. Bayard was more reticent. He
said he would add nothing to what
was laid before Congress and the
British Parliament, but he protested
vigorously "against treaty which,
having for its sole object the restric-
tion of the citizens and subjects OF the
two powers from fishing in each
others territorial waters within three
miles OF the shore, had been perverted
by the Canadian authorities to other
and more legitimate ends. The United
States did not object to the enforce
ment of the treaty as it stood, but the
seizure of the Adams and the Doughty
was without justification.
The feeling in regard to it was in
tensified by the fact that the two ves-
sells had been detained for 1S months,
land to this day the government OF
the United States has no knowledge
of the decision Of the Canadian courts
on the subject" He went on to say
that there is section of the com
Imunity positively interested in pro-
voking trouble between Great Britain
and the republic" and he instanced in
evidence OF it the dispatch from Ot-
tawa announcing the sinking of an
American fishing vessel by British
cruiser, which he pronounced "a
wholly bogus and malicious story"
! The fact remains, nevertheless, that
negotiations with Great Britain are
Icontinualy delayed and inpeded Ey
| the reference OF these state papers 10
Ottawa "ior the observations and OBJ
Elections of the Canadian ministry"
land Mr.. Bayard, "though he did not
saw so in as many words, irtimated
clearly his opinion that this rounda-
bout mode of negotiation was likely
Ito lead to trouble sooner or later, and